


Mascot!!! On Ice

by keyoftheheart



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 300 follower milestone!, Attempt at Humor, Drama & Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romantic Comedy, breaking world records, gochan mascot, like a quad axel, references to real events, the-eros-experience, yuzuru hanyu's seimei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 05:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11617059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyoftheheart/pseuds/keyoftheheart
Summary: Sometimes, the mascot that performs on competitions and events is suspiciously too good. Victor finds out why.





	Mascot!!! On Ice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheLordofPhantomhive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLordofPhantomhive/gifts).



“Breathe Yuuri, breathe.” Victor said, “You’re going to be fine.” It had been a while since the last time it had gotten this bad, and he was struggling to get Yuuri to calm down at least a bit. It really wasn’t working all that much.

“But Victor, what if I fail my Quad Axel?” Yuuri replied, shaking in his seat. “I’m just gonna be a huge embarrassment for even trying!” His anxiety was truly getting out hand once more, and it was much, much worse than other times, the main reason being that this was the first time he actually attempted such a difficult jump on a competition.

“Relax, Yuuri. You’ve landed it a few times in practice. Chances are you could land it here too! You know it happens often.”

“You’re kidding, Victor. You know that I only landed it five times in practice! What makes you so sure that I’ll be able to land it here?” Anxiety-ridden thoughts made their way out of Yuuri at a maddening speed, and he wasn’t thinking over his words, he just said whatever his panicked mind supplied him with, without applying any kind of filter to it.

Victor placed a finger on his lip, humming. Thinking about a way to convey everything that was on his mind, without making it sound like he was too biased.

“Because I trust you, Yuuri.” he stated as-a-matter-of-factly. “I trust in your ability.” That was what Victor truly believed in, and he was being quite blunt.

“You’re trusting my ability too much, Victor. What if I screw up?”

Yeah, what if I screw up? What if I fall on my face and am unable to recover? What if I end up screwing the whole program up? What if I end up not finishing in time with the music? Oh, god, what if I end up injuring myself-?

“You’ll be fine, Yuuri, trust me. Just have some confidence! Don’t try it on warm up practice though.” Victor said, placing his finger over Yuuri’s lips. “Can’t let the other skaters know our secret weapon, yeah?”

“Have some confidence, you say? You should know that it’s not as easy as that, Victor, you really can’t pretend for me to just-”

Yuuri sighed, interrupting himself and giving up. He stood up upon hearing his name being called out through the rink, calling him for his turn for warm up practice to give a run down of his program. He had limited time to stay on the rink which was spent practicing his step sequences, spins and his quad flip and quad lutz. But most of all, he practiced his triple axels to perfection.

“Good, I can do this. I can make it a quad.” he thought to himself, trying to follow Victor’s advice despite having just argued with him, telling him that it was not something as simple as ‘Just have confidence,’. For Victor, it might have have been easy, but for Yuuri, it was not; not at all.

Victor watched as Yuuri perfected his triple axels from the edge of the rink. He wasn’t competing in this event since he was done placing first at the European Championships. Today Victor was full-time coach and it was something he’d always now been comfortable doing after coaching Yuuri for an entire season. Victor followed Yuuri with his eyes as he saw his fiancé picking up the pace. He decided to disregard his little outburst minutes prior, knowing it to be his anxiety speaking.

“Yuuri, no!” Victor yelled from the other side, knowing well that this was his preparation for a quad axel. Why was Yuuri so into not following his directions?

Yuuri used the speed to rotate himself forward and launched into the air, one, two, three, four-- and a half--

Dammit. Were Yuuri’s thoughts before falling, because he’d already realized that he’d screwed up before he even fell. He felt all eyes on him, and it made him feel even worse.

“Ohh!” Victor’s face scrunched up as he hissed with one eye slightly closed, seeing Yuuri skid on the ice towards the barrier. This is precisely why he had told him not to try it during practice; it would shatter his already almost non-existent confidence.

Meanwhile, the comments section of the livestream page explodes with reactions.

Lunar-Peacle [5:38:23 PM] : DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT?!?!?!

Arya24 [5:38:25 PM] : OH MY GOD DON’T TELL ME I JUST SAW WHAT I SAW

Glo [5:38:28 PM] : what happened???

MinamiMakkachin9415 [5:38:47 PM] : DIDN’T YOU SEE???? YUURI ATTEMPTED A QUAD AXEL??!?!  
  
Gdivitya [5:38:50 PM] : YUURI ATTEMPTED A QUAD AXEL AND THIS IS NOT A DRILL GUYS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. HE’S SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING THIS

PrincetAlex [5:38:54 PM] : he didn’t land it though

Petals57526 [5:39:01 PM] : Who cares if he didn’t land it?! There were enough rotations!

Gdivitya [5:39:02 PM] : YUURI “QUAD AXEL” KATSUKI

Gdivitya [5:39:03 PM] : AFHASUIDFHAJKSFA

Gdivitya [5:39:04 PM] : IARQWRQWER

Gdivitya [5:39:05 PM] : HJKHIOHF

Gdivitya [5:39:06 PM] : RTEWFAEWAAFDS

viktuuriqueenkelina [5:39:08 PM] : GDI GDIVITYA STOP FLOODING THE CHAT

Gdivitya [5:39:15] : -GIF of Anna “Ok bye”-

  
Social media and forums were now blasting with comments and posts regarding Yuuri attempting a quad axel. It didn’t take long enough for news to spread like wildfire. Yuuri couldn’t concentrate. He was skating first in the last group after placing 5th on the short program and the pressure of everyone expecting the quad axel from him sent him spiraling into yet another fit of anxiety. He shook in his chair, waiting for Victor to come back from his bathroom break. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready, preparing and stretching on autopilot.

Victor returned from his ‘quick’ trip to the bathroom to see his skater trembling on a chair, right after the media’s done interrogating him of a certain possible quad to occur in his free program.

“Yuuri!” he hurried to the terrified skater. “Yuuri, your group is almost up! You haven’t even fully changed into your costume yet!”

Yuuri looked down to see that he was still wearing his track pants and not the skating trousers that match his oriental costume. Of course he hadn’t changed, he just had to forget to do that, of all things.

“Right!” the Japanese skater scrambled to his feet, and quickly shuffled to the dressing room with Victor following him.

He couldn’t steady his hands, shaking as it desperately tried to tug on the zipper to open the bag. Victor headied Yuuri’s trembling hand, helping him retrieve the trousers for his free skate costume.

“Yuuri, you need to breathe.” he calmly said for the upteenth time that day, but he didn’t mind. “Breathe with me. One.. two.. Three… Take deep breaths, Yuuri, I’m here.”

He followed the sound of Victor’s voice, the tunneling darkness starting to dissipate from the edges of his eyes.

“Listen to me,” the Russian coach placed his firm hands on Yuuri’s shoulders. “If you don’t feel confident to pull off a quad axel, you can just change the layout of the jumps back into a triple axel double toe loop raised hands combo.”

Brown eyes, red from welling tears met blue gentle ones. Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to look away, looking for and finding the reassurance and quiet strength he needed right now. Victor was more than glad to give it to him; he would also give him his calm and clear mind, if only he could.

“But Victor.. We’ve worked so hard on this.” Yuuri sighed, pitying himself from letting his nerves get the load of him, but more than self-pity, he was also feeling anger. At himself, because he was still not over his anxiety. It made him feel guilty for dragging Victor down with him. “I’m still going to put this in the program!”

“Only do it when you’re ready, Yuuri. You know I won’t let you do anything you’re not ready to do, yes?” Victor winked, causing all the blood to rise up the Japanese skater’s cheeks. He knew exactly what he had been implying, but at the same time, he knew that his statement was not completely true.

Yuuri was known for changing his program components, jumps and the like, mid-program, without Victor hearing a word about it before he did so. Many times he ended up doing or trying stuff that was completely different from what was originally planned, so whenever he started changing things at the beginning of his choreographies, the announcers just tended to completely give up on trying to let the spectators know what Yuuri was going to do next.

“We’re now on the last group of skaters. The seven minute warm up will start in three minutes.” the announcer’s voice blared out the centralized PA system.

“Oh no, we gotta hurry!” Yuuri took off his glasses and handed them over to Victor.

Once he’s entered a cubicle to change in, he gave the stretchable pants a quick dusting and was just about to remove his track pants until he realized that he was still wearing his skates.

“Yuuri! The officials are looking for all the skaters. You’re the last one they’re looking for. I’ve told them you’re still changing, but you have to hurry!” Victor called out from behind the door. “What’s taking you long, dear?”

“My skates! I forgot I’m wearing them and now I’m unlacing them!” Yuuri yelled, feeling himself panic even more with every second that passed. He would definitely screw everything up today.

“Skaters, please take the ice for warm up.”

“Yuuri, I’m coming in!” Victor pushed the door open, finding Yuuri scrambling his fingers to unlace his skates. He was not doing it properly, or quickly enough.

“Victor! I’m changing!” he shrieked.

“I know but we don’t have time! Just be careful to put your foot through the leg holes.” Victor said, helping Yuuri out of his pants. “Where are your skate guards?”

“Crap, I lost them somewhere when I was stretching!”

“Nevermind, you can use the spare ones I always bring. Now carefully put your leg through...”

Victor helped Yuuri put his pants on, trying to tug on the fabric so that the blades of the skate wouldn’t rip through the delicate threads of the black pants. Once they were done with one leg--

“Skater Katsuki!” an official yelled out from the changing room door. “The warm up has already begun!”

“YES! We’ll be there in a minute!” Victor shouted back. “Geez, some people just can’t wait.”

Startled from the sudden call, Yuuri pushed his foot through the hole with a loud ripping sound.

Crap. He thought to himself. Of course he just broke the costume, too.

“Oh there we go! All set, let’s go!” Victor stood up, fetching the extra pair of skate guards.

“Victor! There was a ripping sound! Where did my pants rip?!” Yuuri panicked, eyes and hands scouting the area of his pants, trying to find the rip.

“I didn’t hear it so you’re just imagining things, Yuuri. Now put these on and we gotta go!” Victor held up his skates one at a time and placed the guards as fast as he could.

“Victor I swear something definitely ripped.”

The Russian coach groaned, scanning Yuuri’s pants for any damage only to find none.

“I didn’t find anything. You’re clear, now let’s go.”

Yuuri and Victor sped to the rinkside, warm up almost finished. There were three minutes left, but the Yuuri used that remaining time to make a couple of fast laps around the rink without jumping. He couldn’t really warm up at all, to make things even worse. Could they actually get any worse?

Yes, they could. He thought, trying his best not to elaborate any further. It wouldn’t help him at all. It can always, always get worse.

  
“The warm up is now over. Skaters please leave the ice.”

Yuuri was the first to skate so it wouldn’t be long until he had to get back on the ice. He stepped off to the side of the rink to find his coach wearing what seemed to be a very serious expression.

“Victor, what’s wrong?” the Japanese skater asked, putting his skate guards on and pressing his face close to inspect Victor’s.

All of a sudden, Victor backed Yuuri up to a nearby wall down the hallway. He stared deeply into brown sparkling ones with glimmering intense blue eyes. Yuuri could barely register what was happening. What on earth--?

“Are you… Victor what’s going on?! We’re in public!”

The silver-haired man got on his knee and lifted one of Yuuri’s skates and pressed his lips on the leathery material of the boot. Yuuri’s face heated up at the sight. Why did he have to be like this now, of all times?

“Yuuri, remember that mental training we’re doing?” Victor looked up to the man’s gaze, his look enough to communicate what needed to be said.

“I’m...” Yuuri gulped. “I’m the absolute champion.” Why did he have to say this now, of all times? There were lots of cameras on them, too, which didn’t help at all.

“What’s that, I didn’t hear you?” Victor teased, pressing.

“I will be godly!” It sounded terrible, and it was something Yuuri would never, ever say under normal circumstances, but Victor had pretty much forced him into it weeks ago, when he’d decided that he would start doing this ‘mental training’ thing, which totally sucked, by the way.

“And you are?”

“I am the absolute champion!” He exclaimed, though he did not believe it one bit. He knew that Victor knew that, too, but his fiancé believed on the ‘Fake it ‘till you make it’ philosophy, and it wasn’t like Yuuri could do anything about it except for humouring him.

In one deep breath, Yuuri’s universe finally realigned to its proper place. He recited the words in his mind like a mantra. Finally, he was seeing everything in a better perspective. His eyes might not be perfect but in his mind, everything looked crisp. Somehow, it worked, sometimes.

“Ready, my divine star?” the man kneeling before him said, standing up. He truly could not be even more embarrassing than this.

With some confidence, Yuuri nodded with a huff before they headed to the rinkside.

“Skater Katsuki, you’re on!” one of the officials called out, gesturing him to the opening of the rink.

“Our first skater from the second group: Representing Japan, two time world champion, current Grand Prix champion, Yuuri Katsuki.”

The crowd’s cheers were deafening at the announcement of his name. The Four Continents Championships were held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was his home turf. The rink was on his side. The rink was his stage. The rink was his universe. The ice was his everything, right now.

“Skating to the song Omnyouji.”

He skated to the middle, spinning a few times to check his axis and positioned himself into his starting position, eyes locked to his coach’s. He was calm, composed and bore the aura of a god on the rink. He closed his eyes and the surroundings became the infinite space, all the stars surround him in his axis, not a celestial body out of place.

The drums begin, Yuuri begins his program with his two fingers pressed just above his lips as if to hush the audience and raises his arm in time with the percussions. He skates beautifully with the sound of the flute but in his vision, he was travelling along a river of stars before he launches into a quadruple lutz and lands it-- an explosion that created the galaxy.

The cheers were wild but Yuuri’s enclosed himself from his surroundings. He could not see anything else but the image of godliness Victor had wanted him to visualize. Another set of complicated footwork that created constellations marked the ice before he jumps into a triple axel, single loop and triple salchow- which he lands perfectly again.

Victor had put a lot of effort trying to help Yuuri visualize the perfect images of his program so that one can lose in it. With a vision to work with, it can focus to assist him mentally to nail the technical elements in his highly difficult program. He gazed at Yuuri, watching him lose himself to the music-- no, more like watching him create the music with his body. It was mesmerizing, the thing that had attracted him to Yuuri in the first place. He would never get tired of it.

Yuuri enters himself into a difficult spin sequence that included a unique variation of camel spins, sit spins and a bielmann. In his vision, he could see light filling the void.

The music shifts into deep drums beating ceremoniously, the balance of light and dark tilting to one side. The darkness expands and so does its minions. Yuuri joins the darkness to even out the forces, another complicated step sequence leading the void to take their place to equal light. At the sound of a beautiful ring of a bell, he raised his hand in time to halt the void just in time.

Quadruple Salchow, Triple toe loop

Triple Axel, Double Axel with both hands up.

He created a wall between the two. A land of light and the land of darkness. He was now in the second half of his program.

Triple Axel, Loop, Triple Salchow

Quadruple Flip

Yuuri was the guardian of these two opposing elements. They cannot outweigh the other without passing through him. And so the elements grew in their own land, fortifying their power while peering through the boundary guarded by the Omniyouji, Yuuri. The collection of power fueled the fear and anger of each other and the guardian steps in.

He extends his arms to the side in two beats, as if to stop them in between.

Triple Flip

Yuuri’s expression changed that of a brave and furious guardian who had to show the two sides what he was capable of. A choreographic step sequence including highly difficult footwork created a deep rift in between them. Victor could see it, what the image Yuuri had in his head was fully being expressed into a story right before his eyes. And this was it, the moment-- THE MOMENT.

“I will be godly.” Yuuri said to himself mentally. “No, I already am.” The mental training he thought did not work was apparently doing its magic now.

He increased the speed but ever so calmly and sprang himself up forward into the air at a height that almost cleared the fence, spinning one, two three, four and a half---

The crowd’s cheers were deafening but Yuuri could not hear any of it. He’s landed his Quadruple Axel cleanly effortlessly all throughout.

One final spin sequence, sending fraction of light into darkness and a fraction of darkness into light before sealing them in a circle of balance, ending his program with his arms on his side swiftly halting the world with the last beat of the drum.

Slowly, Yuuri came back from his high, the rink and the audience finally coming back into view. He felt exhausted and yet so exhilarated at the perfection of the program. It rained flowers and stuffed toys, more than ever that he’s gotten in his entire career. But a collective gasp from the audience snapped him out of the euphoria. Something… somewhere… felt a little too chilly.

He looked down to find that the soft shaft of his genitals poking out of his pants.

No. No. No.

This has to be a bad dream. It has to be. But then skating the program perfectly in line with the image would also not be real. Then again, the issue outweighs the achievement. It felt like he could see everyone’s faces zoomed in even though they’re so far away beyond the edge of the ice. The reverberating sound of gasps, yelling and even laughter in his ear tunneled his vision and it felt like his heart was pulsing at a thousand beats per minute. He had good stamina but this kind of program was enough to have him gasping for air in the end and to make things worse, his anxiety gripping his chest in a vice-like force. Victor, where is Victor? He has to be there somewhere. But his vision was shaking he couldn’t even find his own coach.

Yuuri sheepishly tucked himself in his pants and skated towards the other exit of the rink opposite the kiss and cry. He felt hot tears sting the corner of his eyes but he wasn’t strong enough to fight them. Godly, I say. Godly embarrassing you mean.

“Yuuri! Wait!” Victor ran around the perimeter of the rink to chase Yuuri but he was blocked by a few officials.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Nikiforov we need you to receive skater Katsuki’s score.”

“As his coach, I can’t let him run off like that!”

“As his coach,” the official said, “You must at least stand in for him for proper protocol.”

There Victor sat on the kiss and cry alone, bouncing his knee eager to get off and chase Yuuri. He was annoyed as every second passed by, the farther Yuuri could be from him. To make things worse, he had to bear and watch the overhead replays of Yuuri’s magnificent skating-- at least they bothered to censor what was supposed to be only for his eyes.

“The score for Katsuki Yuuri...”

The score flashed on the lower thirds and just soon as Victor was able to mentally grasp the number and hear that he was in first place, he bolted out of the kiss and cry, not paying attention that his fiancé just broke another free skate score record. And what’s more frustrating is that the reactions were mixed. But none of that mattered now. All that mattered was to find Yuuri.

Victor barged in first at the dressing room, gasping as he felt age catch up to him from the speed he was running to find his dearest.

“Yuuri?!” He called out, bracing his arms by the door jamb just so he wouldn’t topple over into the room from the momentum of his running.

But he wasn’t there.

“Yuuri?!” he scurried to the restroom, knocking and checking all the cubicles if he was crying there somewhere.

But he wasn’t there.

“Yuuri?!” he yelled out the lobby, eyes frantically looking for his familiar black hair.

But he wasn’t there.

“Has anyone seen Yuuri?!” Victor scouted through the waiting area where other skaters stand by. “Please tell me someone saw him. I’ve been everywhere!”

But no one did.

“Have you checked the hotel?” Phichit said, approaching Victor. “Perhaps he went straight there.”

“No, not yet. I haven’t stepped out of the vicinity yet but I’ve searched all of the places I could think of.”

Meanwhile, Yuuri carried his duffel bag running to the nearest train station. He managed to change out of his skates and ran out of the stadium with his skate costume underneath his track pants and jacket. He just wanted to run away as far as possible and home was the first thing that came to his mind.

He wore a medical mask and boarded the train to Hasetsu.

* * *

 

“Phichit, he’s not at the hotel either!” Victor yelled through the phone in a panic, checking the room one more time. “I don’t know where else I can look for him! He’s not anywhere else in the hotel nor the area around.”

“Okay let’s make another round together. I’m bringing Guang-hong and Leo.” the Thai skater replied.

The three diligently looked for Yuuri for the rest of the day, rounding all the places in the area and the possible places he could be in the hotel. But that night after the search, no one was able to find Yuuri.

“Yuuri, where are you...” Victor collapsed on the hotel bed.

Victor inhaled sharply burying his face on the pillows and sheets. Yuuri’s scent still present in the fabric, he tried to calm himself and let out a shaky breath.  
He dialed Yuuri’s number once more for god knows how many times already, only for it to redirect to voice message again. After the beep, Victor let out a sigh,

“Yuuri...” he weakly said. “We’ve been looking for you all day, all night. I don’t know if I should call the police already. Please, please come back.”

He finished his message and curled on the bed. He didn’t want to call Yutopia because he didn’t want Yuuri’s parents to worry. Switching off his phone, the exhaustion finally crept up to him, falling asleep with a trickle of a teardrop on his cheek.

* * *

 

“Yuu-chan, why are you all alone? Where’s Vicchan?” Hiroko said, sitting down on the low table as Yuuri consumed his third bowl of Katsudon.

But Yuuri only hummed, eyes still focused on his food. He couldn’t just say that he left Victor without a word because of the embarrassment. He couldn't tell her that he had finally landed the hardest jump in Figure Skating history, only for this routine to be remembered as the most embarrassing one of his entire career. Yes, even worse than the one from Sochi 2014. Considering how it things went normally, he would be recognized as the first skater to ever land a Quad Axel, but what good was that since he broke his costume and showed everything for everyone to see? This was the worst.

Judging from his mother’s reaction, Yuuri could tell that she had most probably missed his performance, and that though she wanted to ask, she decided to hold back in order not to make him feel any worse. She could already tell something had happened, but she also knew that her son was the type not to open up easily at all, and even less if he was pressured.

She could only hope this question wouldn’t set him off.

“Did something happen with him? With Vicchan, I mean.” She asked softly, plopping down on the floor beside her son and running a hand through his back in a reassuring gesture. Yuuri could be an adult already with a degree and a very much recognized skater, but he was still her son, and he would forever be her baby. She would still be there for him no matter what, and only Victor could sometimes rival her when it came to knowing Yuuri and his danger signals. Other than him, she had no competition in that respect.

Yuuri didn’t quite know how to answer that question. Nothing had actually happened between them, but what about now? Was Victor mad at him for disappearing like that, not even staying to hear his score? Was he mad at him for not coming back to the hotel room? Was he mad because Yuuri had turned off his phone, and was thus not answering any calls he could make him? Had he even cared enough to call? His common sense was telling him that obviously, yes, but his anxiety dictated otherwise, and at this point, he didn’t know what to believe, he couldn’t choose.

Hiroko said nothing, waiting for her son to sort out his thoughts and think how he was going to answer, but the silence had been stretching out for far too long. Had something bad actually happened? She really hoped not, she didn’t know how her Yuuri would cope if something happened between them.

“No, I don’t know. I don’t think so, at least.” Was the only reply that came from him, and Hiroko knew better than to press.

“Well, if you’re not sure, you should sort it out. Shouldn’t you talk to him and see if there even is a problem? Considering how Vicchan is, he’ll answer your call immediately, even if he is a little mad, right?”  
  
Yuuri knew that to be completely true, so he nodded.

Still, it wasn’t that easy for Yuuri to just call him. He couldn’t do it just like that, especially since some hours had already passed. He didn’t feel like he could just do it.

The morning of the gala day came and the champion of the Four Continents Championship was nowhere to be found. Victor tossed and turned in the too big bed to find it void of the familiar figure he’s so used to waking up to everyday. He had no motivation to get up and prepare for the exhibition gala. Victor was a special guest that would skate before Yuuri’s first program. There’s just no point in skating out there without his fiance to be there for him.

His phone started to ring and Victor swooped it up in one blinding movement. Without looking at the caller ID, he answered the call without hesitation.

“Yuuri! Where are you?! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Huh? Why would you be looking for me?” the voice on the other line said, tinged with irritation.

“Ah, Yurio. Sorry, I thought--”

“I know exactly who you thought I am. And what time do you think it is?! The gala exhibition is starting in an hour and the officials are looking for you. Get up and get your ass here right this instant, old man!”

Victor whined and starfished over the bed, the sheets cold on the other side where Yuuri was supposed to warm it through the night.

“Yuriooo, there’s no point in skating in today’s show.”

“Quit your whining, geezer. I saw Katsudon earlier.”

The skater shot out of bed sitting up, feeling the blood flowing again in his veins. He was desperate for any kind of news about Yuuri. Anything, really. Now Yurio had become a beacon of hope, his lips finally tugging at the sides before his mouth morphed into a heart.

“Where is he?! I need to see him! Tell him to come back here!”

“I don’t know, ol’fart. I didn’t get to talk to him. He was walking in a rush before I could even get a chance to follow him.” he said irritably. “Just get down here, I have better things to do than nag you out of bed!”

Before he could let the man reply, Yuri ended the call and proceeded to do his warm ups. Victor made it to the stadium in record time, fresh from the shower in his Russian Olympic jacket and a duffel bag with his costume and Yuuri’s. Thirty minutes before the show, all the skaters have been doing all their warm ups and stretching. Victor however wasn’t. He was roaming all around the place trying to find Yuuri.

After two fruitless rounds in the vicinity, he decided to change into his costume and do the bare minimum of warm ups. Yuuri’s costume was still neatly folded in his bag with no owner to wear it. Was Yurio just using that to lure him into the show? He stood by the rinkside with all the skaters preparing to get on the ice for the opening performance as he looked everywhere in desperation.

Shortly the music started and all the skaters were being introduced one by one while everyone skated together on the ice with the mascot. When Victor’s name was called out as a special guest, he waved to the fans and jumped his signature quadruple flip with ease. The crowd roared wild as Victor blew a kiss with a megawatt smile. A smile void of the happiness that only Yuuri could fill.

When Yuuri’s name was called out, Victor’s eyes frantically searched for him on the rink but it seems like the committee just used the mascot to fill in for their ace. Victor’s heart sank and he could barely finish the routine properly with the disappointment.

He was set to skate second to last after Yurio. Victor didn’t get to watch the other skaters’ performances as he was too preoccupied to find Yuuri. The Exhibition Gala was nearing its end and Victor was still on the edge and stressed out not being able to find the Japanese skater.

When he spotted a familiar bob of blonde hair, he approached the teen in a few strides.

“Yurio!” He called out to the skater who was making his way to the rink since it was his turn. “You just told me you saw Yuuri to get me to go here.”

“And what if I did?” the angsty boy retorted.

“That’s so mean, Yurio!”

“Oh shut up geezer I was kidding. I really did see him, okay? Pull your shit together.”

He left for the ice before the man could answer, beginning his performance. Victor ran a hand over his face and his hair before sighing inwardly in defeat. He will have to skate by himself then. They were supposed to revive a remastered version of their old ice dance program Duet: Stammi Vicino from two seasons ago and now that was impossible since Victor did not have his partner.

“Our next skater, a special guest, champion of the European Championships, six-time world champion, Victor Nikiforov!”

Just get it over with.

Victor skated to the middle of the rink as the lights started to dim and the warm spotlight shining on him.

It just wasn’t the same-- this was supposed to be a pair skate between him and Yuuri but Victor can only wing it, changing choreography as he goes. His movements still hinted a partner, his arms raising up to the sky as if raising a partner then gestures to embrace himself in a way he’s lost the being he just hoisted up in the air.

As the program closed to a finish, Victor smiled and bowed to the audience hoping perhaps Yuuri was there watching him. He skated to the side, claiming the skate guards he tucked by the barrier.

The last one to skate was supposed to be an encore for Yuuri after his performance with Victor. As Yuuri’s name was announced, Victor shot his head up to the rink to find his fiance only to see a huge panda or bear mascot skating on the ice.

“Oh, it’s just the Tokyo network’s mascot.”

He was just about to turn away when Yuuri’s EX program began to play. He snapped his head back, seeing the big mascot beginning to skate the program he choreographed himself for Yuuri.

Sure it was highly difficult to skate in a heavy stuffy mascot but it takes a highly skilled skater to actually pull off these complicated step sequences despite the weight and restriction of movements. Mascot personnel usually are skilled but the level of execution here was beyond Victor’s expectations. It was able to capture him in a way that only Yuuri does.

Yuuri and only Yuuri.

And then it hit him when the mascot did a graceful double flip at the end of the program that no mascot personnel could ever pull off in a giant stuffy panda bear suit.

When the mascot did a lap around the rink to greet the guests, Victor ran to the entrance of the ice resurfacer since the mascot goes through there instead of where the other skaters do. He took off his blade guards and skated as fast as he could to meet the fluffy panda who was waving out to the audience and heading back to the edge of the rink.

The panda didn’t have the opportunity to look at where he was going when a certain Russian living legend came skating at full speed to his direction with open arms, sending them both flying for a second before landing on the ice cushioned by the cottony thickness of the mascot costume.

“Yuuri!” Victor cried out, muffled from his face pressing on the head of the panda. “You’re Yuuri, right?”

There was a pause and it was rather awkward. What if Victor launched himself onto some innocent talented staff? But that would be impossible. In his head the chances of him making a mistake is almost non-existent as he was so sure from the way the mascot moved.

“V-Victor...” the very familiar voice said from the inside.

“Yuuri!!!” Victor squeezed the mascot in his arms like some giant plushie.

He got off Yuuri and helped him up, pulling him and pushing him up to regain his balance. Once finally on their feet, he grasped the headpart of the mascot and gently lifted it up to see the ever-charming boy inside.

He couldn’t help himself. He dropped the item on his hands and his lips just found their way over Yuuri’s. The entire stadium blared with screaming, cheering and clapping.

“You made me worry so much! You ran off and we had search parties going around. Your phone was turned off too and Phichit was already thinking of calling the police. Why would you run off like that? And why...” he glanced at the cute mascot once more. “Why this?”

So many questions were in his mind he just had no control soon as this immense relief finally washed over him. Victor needed to keep his composure.

“I just thought that this costume was thick enough to not rip at all.” Yuuri replied, a small smile forming on his lips as he redirected his look, pursing his lower lip.

“Silly Yuuri!” finally everything’s falling into the right place and Victor hugged him once more and pulled him into another quick kiss. “The world may have seen what was only supposed to be for my eyes only but my other rule stands firm.”

“And what is it?” Yuuri furrows his brows.

“That it’s only for me to touch.” he winked, a smirk forming on his lips.

Yuuri’s face was beet red and he panicked, accidentally knocking Victor onto the ice by hitting him with the softly cushioned Mascot arm with a very heavy force he did not mean to exert.

“Yuuri how mean!” Victor feigned hurt, getting up off the ice.

All of a sudden, there was a loud ripping sound again. This time Yuuri was sure it wasn’t him. But just for good measure, he checked around the costume but found no damage.

The crowd gasped, the stadium back into the familiar ambience as Yuuri finished his FS just yesterday. Victor turned, finding the behind of his costume ripped exposing the whole crack of his butt for the world to see.

The rest was history-- repeating itself, for Victor this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! Thank you so much for reading my Tumblr 300 follower milestone! Come say hi at my Yuuri RP blog at the-eros-experience.tumblr.com 
> 
> For references, here's some links:  
> Yuuri's program based on Yuzuru Hanyu's Seimei  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKMykr-S2zc
> 
> The Panda Mascot  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUKitajFBiM
> 
> Thank you to TheLordofPhantomhive for making this work possible!


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